(RFE/RL)
October 4, 2006 -- South Korea will not allow North Korea to have a nuclear weapon and urged its neighbor to halt plans to explode a nuclear device.

A foreign ministry spokesman said today that South Korea expressed "grave concern" and "regret" over a North Korean announcement a day earlier that it would conduct a nuclear test.

"Our government clearly reconfirms our position that we will never accept North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons," spokesman Chu Gyu-ho said. "And we urge North Korea to immediately cancel their plan for a nuclear test."

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said North Korea would suffer universal condemnation and weaken its own security if it carried through its threat to conduct a nuclear test.

Annan urged North Korea to observe the current moratorium on nuclear testing and return to stalled six nation talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms program.

China's ambassador to the UN, Wang Guangya, echoed Annan's call in remarks in New York on October 3.

"The best channel to address this issue is through the six-party talks, so of course the Security Council can reflect in what way the council can be helpful, if all council members agree, but I think the main channel, the main mechanism is still the six-party talks," Wang said.